MAGNOLIA – Faculty members from the College of Education at Southern Arkansas University will travel to the Philippines in May to make presentations at an international conference at Tarlac State University. The faculty will also explore the establishment of relationships between SAU and Filipino universities.
This is SAU’s first endeavor in the southeast Asian republic.
The University’s delegation includes Dr. Zaidy MohdZain, dean of the College of Education, and Dr. Mike Rippy, director of Educational Leadership. Rippy will also provide a workshop for teachers and administrators at La Castellana school district in the Philippine island of Negros Occidential.
“Some of the teachers and administrators there have never met an American, so this project should be helpful in sharing ideas,” said Rippy.
During the trip to Tarlac, Mohdzain and Rippy will meet with top international education leaders including the director of higher education for the Philippines to discuss issues impacting education in Southeast Asia.
Tarlac State University, which is located in the city of Tarlac, is the home of the president of the Philippines, Benigno (Noy Noy) Aquino, Jr. Rippy has been involved with Tarlac University for the past five years at the request of the director of higher education for the Philippines.
“I think it will be beneficial to our university and to theirs,” Rippy said. “We will share innovative programs developed in the U.S. with teachers and administrators in the Philippines.”
Research indicates that less than one percent of American college students study abroad. The partnerships that are established with Filipino universities may lead to study-abroad opportunities for SAU Educational Leadership students in the future.
“We are dealing with an interconnected world. Our students need to be knowledgeable about it, and the best way is to study in a foreign country with our students’ boots on the ground.
“It gives us the first opportunity for the College of Education to reach outside the United States for international programs. It’s a way for Southern Arkansas University to reach outside south Arkansas and bring a global perspective to our classes,” said Rippy.
Organizers also hope Filipino educators will be encouraged to pursue graduate and undergraduate studies at Southern Arkansas University, which has a reputation for producing quality educators. Rippy said that he hopes to obtain a grant to take several of his Educational Leadership students to the Philippines in the summer of 2012.
For more information about this endeavor, contact Rippy at (870) 235-5225.
